Manilow Returns To Roots With Musical

MUSIC

December 5, 1997|By Orange County (Calif.) Register

LA JOLLA, CALIF. — Barry Manilow knows a thing or two about superstardom. He also knows what it's like to disappear. But the crooner-songwriter's meteoric '70s rise and '80s slump is nothing compared to what happened to the Comedian Harmonists.

The who?

''That's what's so fascinating about them,'' Manilow said. ''I'd never heard of them before, and I'm in the business.'' The obscure 1920s German singing group is the subject of Manilow's first major musical, Harmony, which opened in October at the La Jolla Playhouse.

The king of syrupy pop ballads such as ''Mandy'' and ''I Write the Songs'' has often demonstrated a dexterity with musical theater's raw materials - tunes such as the campy ''Copacabana'' are little self-contained stories, complete with passion, murder and other operatic niceties. But Manilow said he had no plans to write a musical when he got a call out of the blue in early 1991 from his longtime collaborator, lyricist Bruce Sussman.

Sussman had stumbled upon a documentary about the Comedian Harmonists when it was shown at New York's Public Theater. He knew immediately he had struck gold.

Manilow (who will perform in concert at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando today and Saturday) agreed to the project without knowing a thing about its subject.

''I just trusted Bruce. He was excited, I could hear it in his voice. . . . ''

The Comedian Harmonists were hugely popular in their day.

''They were the Beatles of Germany in the '20s,'' Manilow said. The six-man group evolved from poor street-corner musicians to internationally famous artists with a string of hit recordings and concert engagements throughout Europe and in America, Australia and the Far East.

The group's popularity disintegrated when Hitler came to power. Its light-music-and-mirth approach doomed it to persecution as an egregious example of Weimar-era decadence. Even more problematic: Some of its members were Jewish.

''The Nazis destroyed everything,'' Manilow said. ''That's why we don't know them. They destroyed every single record except for the ones people hid under their beds. The group made 12 movies, and they were all destroyed. Most of what they did is just not there.''

Musically, Manilow tried to walk a fine line, striving for realism but not imitation.

''We wrote (songs) based on the kind of music the Comedian Harmonists might have sung, without (mimicking) them. It doesn't sound '70s or '60 or '50s; it sounds '20s and '30s with a little fast-forward to the '40s.''

Writing a big musical is a long-held dream for Manilow, who started in New York as a musical jack of all trades. He served as Bette Midler's music director before landing his own record contract in the mid-'70s, and he wore many hats as a young free-lancer.

''I was an ambitious guy and wanted more than just songwriting. I wanted conducting and arranging and producing. So I was just flitting around New York offering myself to anyone who needed a music man.

''When my pop career hit, that was a big surprise because I never offered myself up as a singer, ever. The singing part really threw me and the people who worked with me for a loop. When I told Bruce that I got offered a record deal, he said, 'Doing what?' Nobody expected the pop career.''

Harmony isn't Manilow's first musical; in fact, he launched his career with one. ''I had written a little off-Broadway play called The Drunkard when I was a teenager,'' he said. ''It still (plays) around the country. I get little $200 checks for it every now and then. I loved doing that.

''So this is like full circle. At this age and after all of this career and living, to start all over again like this feels very, very good.''